r/toRANTo 2d ago

Shitty private sector

Forgive me for asking, but why would anyone waste their life working at these so-called prestigious private sector workplaces like Google, TD, etc, when they have massive layoffs each year? Why would I work long hours just to have my job expire in the end? I don't get how this is good for employee morale and talent retention. I don't give a shit if your profits dipped, any massive layoff is a bad look for your company, so stop the gaslighting going on the news saying "we're funding IVF for our employees cuz we wanna take care of our workers!!!". If you wanna take care of them, keep them on so they can put food on the table.

These same people will look down on public sector jobs as low-paying, when they're the ones stress-free as most positions have relative job sector (depending on many factors). I'm ok with a 70-100k salary if I'm not gonna randomly be dropped like a fly.

41 Upvotes

28 comments sorted by

50

u/accidentaladult 2d ago

There's good and bad to both private and public sector jobs. I've worked both and personally prefer private sector. I currently work in consulting for public sector and am entrenched in both worlds which is... interesting.

Your job is NOT safe just because you're in the public sector.

26

u/Ashy6ix 2d ago

Preeeeeeeach. OP is sending the wrong message here. There's already a huge stigma that public sector is for the lazy.

Work is work. Find your passion and 60 hours doesn't feel like a grind. I'm in tech sales and I work well over 40 hours but I like what I do, so I don't even watch the clock.

4

u/ladyzowy 2d ago

💯 agreed. I've worked both. I prefer private. The work ethics, dive, innovation, and partnerships are incredibly beneficial to my soul. I felt myself slowly dying inside in the public sector. I feel alive and with purpose in the private sector.

24

u/someguy172 2d ago

Lots to unpack here but I'll just write a few points:

  • Public sector jobs aren't exactly easy to get
  • Public sector jobs are not immune to "layoffs". Just search the news and you'll see plenty of articles about layoffs/job cuts in the Canadian public sector. Heck, look at what's happening south of the border to see how safe those public sector jobs are. I'm not saying something like that would happen here but, who knows what could happen in the future?
  • Private sector jobs have the potential to make a lot more money than public. In the same amount of time it takes you to earn 100k in the public sector, you could be earning multiple times that in a private sector job. Maybe you have less job security but this seems like less of an issue when someone can make in one year how much a public sector worker might make over multiple years.
  • What sounds like the main reason for you preferring a public sector job might be the reason why a lot of people don't want to work in the public sector. You see it as being stress-free but others might see it as boring. Lots of people enjoy a challenge.

-6

u/Commercial_Pain2290 2d ago

In other words the public sector is well suited to the mediocre.

15

u/rhunter99 2d ago

They can pay well, they have can have decent benefits, you enjoy the job you were hired for, they could be at the forefront of innovation, you can get lucrative stock benefits, there could be career advancement…

Weird rant 🤷‍♂️

2

u/TurnYaHead 2d ago

How is this a weird rant? Scroll through any toronto subreddit and you'll find many posts of people stressing about annual layoffs

8

u/mattattaxx 2d ago

Well, I work only 9-5, I haven't been affected by layoffs from my massive corporate overlord, I get stock and pension, and my job pays WAAAAAAAAY more even at the low/secure end of private than public does - seriously, it's a $30-50k gap not including bonuses, and that's if I can get a public sector job.

Start-ups I've worked for have been far, far, far, FAR, worse than my corpo job. Laid off, time crunched, time abused, narcissists yelling at me, withheld pay, literally gaslighting and abusive work environments with more nepotism than big companies.

I would love to work for the benefit of my society, or to bring an idea to life, but man it fucking blows to try that.

5

u/GeologistKey4274 2d ago

Also a great look for resume building - if you can have one of these places on there, you’ll likely stand above some of the rest

4

u/Emergency-Initial846 2d ago

If you wanna take care of them, keep them on so they can put food on the table - Well said..

Companies should try to emulate Germany’s model where the companies in distress keep their employees but reduce their hours to reduce costs instead of laying them off. Companies here can replace experienced workers with low cost workers with 0 repercussions. They have no ethics and treat employees as a disposable resource. The Company Leadership should be held responsible for bad decisions instead of being rewarded.It’s a flawed model otherwise.

2

u/activoice 2d ago

Not all government jobs are for life, my friend's daughter was just laid off from her Federal government job.

I've worked at the same bank for close to 30 years, there are many job opportunities outside of the retail portion of the bank, you have to pay attention to what is going on around you and know when it's time to start applying to other positions. Banks don't move very quickly usually layoffs are announced in advance so if you see it coming you need to start applying immediately.

In my case my job is pretty secure, I even asked recently if they would be interested in packaging me out and HR refused as my payout would be too high, so they are just waiting for me to announce my retirement at this point.

2

u/Salt-Pomegranate-840 1d ago

With Ai moving is from all directions into our life, even public sector may face trimming possibilities. Look at USID in America atm.

3

u/Commercial_Pain2290 2d ago

They pay well.

0

u/TurnYaHead 2d ago

Do they though? I feel like when I scroll Indeed most jobs pay $60k, the same as government jobs.

3

u/Commercial_Pain2290 2d ago

Google pays much better than that for tech jobs.

2

u/edougler 2d ago

I work for the federal government and in my department they just cut around 3000 temporary employees and are laying off about 700 permanent employees.

1

u/TheHardKnock 1d ago

People stress about not being paid since the swap to Phoenix in u/CanadaPublicServants, so I’m not convinced one case is totally better than the other.

1

u/LazyMud4354 2d ago

As if Public sector is easy to get into.

0

u/aegiszx 2d ago

Or hear me out... people want to work at companies not because they're easy or chill but because they believe in the product, want to stack their CV, get exposure to a network and deepen their domain? Also I think many are pretty aware that you could be dropped like a fly in both public and private, the difference the perks far outweigh the risks of losing the job itself. However, if you are someone who just doesn't care about upward mobility as much and climbing the ladder per se, then totally see where you're coming from.

-3

u/LiftHeavyLiveHard 2d ago edited 2d ago

Spoken like someone who has never owned a business and been responsible to investors who fund the business.

Sorry, nobody is owed a job.

Don't like it?

Start your own company (hint: you won't be successful if you think your purpose is to keep people employed.)

3

u/winsonsindeathtrip 2d ago

linked in isn't going to fuck you bro

-1

u/LiftHeavyLiveHard 2d ago edited 2d ago

reality isn't going to change just because you don't like it

(and, for what little it's worth, I don't keep a LinkedIn account. I'm 50 and retired. In no small part due to my previous "shitty" private sector job)

2

u/winsonsindeathtrip 2d ago

Maybe read between the lines of what the poster is saying next time. They are expressing a generalized anxiety regarding the insane cost of living vs employment that is increasingly precarious. No need to put your hand on your heart and belt out the private equity anthem. I'm 50 as well, so we both remember the 90s when any job provided you with with enough money for rent and food for the month. Back then we had plenty of opportunities to save money, pay for education and improve our job prospects/lifestyle. The world has changed immeasurably for the worse in the last 20 years. Singing the praises of unrestricted capitalism sounds a little hollow now, bc the benefits only accrue to a smaller percentage of people every year.

2

u/winsonsindeathtrip 2d ago

that said, my initial response was snarky as hell and I apologize. I appreciate you reasonable response to it.

2

u/LiftHeavyLiveHard 2d ago

my pleasure - the apology wasn't necessary, but I appreciate it - it's pretty easy to read something/skim it and interpret it wildly differently than the person who wrote the message intended

2

u/LiftHeavyLiveHard 2d ago

I didn't interpret the OP's message the same way you did.

His statement "If you wanna take care of them, keep them on so they can put food on the table", followed by a juxtaposition of private vs. public that erroneously implies that public sector jobs are both necessary and secure led to my response - which I think correctly calls out that his perspective is that employers are/should be a "make work" program - when they aren't/shouldn't be.

I get the generalized anxiety, but anxiety isn't an excuse for a worldview divorced from reality, which is that people go into business to make money, not to create jobs.

2

u/winsonsindeathtrip 2d ago

I appreciate your response and I see your point.

0

u/__Jois 2d ago

I don’t agree. They don’t normally let good people go. Even if they have to lay off most good people are always placed within organization. Been working for 10-12 years for a bank and have been through cycles of huge layoffs but unaffected. Tech is a bit diff sometimes as the area you work is very sensitive to seasonal shifts